The development stop of engines, or the engine freeze, has been the topic of discussion in Formula One for weeks. Red Bull wants it to be introduced after the 2021 season, so that the team can take over Honda’s intellectual property when they leave the sport.
In this way, the team of Max Verstappen and Alexander Albon can continue in 2022 with the same bikes, which in that case will be maintained in-house. However, a strict condition for this construction is the aforementioned development stop for Red Bull. As a result, they don’t have to spend tons of money on the further development of the engines until the new engine formula is introduced in 2026.
Ferrari and Renault indicated this weekend that they were now sympathetic to the plan, after Mercedes had already announced this. Earlier this weekend, however, both Red Bull team principal Christian Horner and Mattia Binotto said that a development freeze should go hand in hand with an additional mechanism to ensure that the different engines are roughly equal in performance after development freezes.
That idea, however, goes completely wrong with Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff. His team has the best power source, which would make them most profitable on paper from a development freeze, but would be hit hardest by a variant of the balance of performance-system.
“This would mean the beginning of the end of Formula 1”, the Austrian is fiercely convinced when he, among others, RacingNews365 is asked about the possible introduction of a system that Horner and Binotto hinted at.
“The engine is not purely about the maximum power that can be produced, but also about the driveability, the weight and the cooling, for example. There is no kind of formula to equalize those aspects and it is not something what Mercedes would be behind “, he is clear.
The introduction of a kind of token system, which allows engine suppliers who are lagging behind the competition in terms of power, is also immediately fired by Wolff. “An insult”, he calls such an idea. “We have had a similar system in the past, but it was then abolished because our competitors wanted it, so that they could develop freely and catch up with us.”
“Now they want to see it again so that the field can come closer together. To be honest, that’s an insult. If you look at the last years, Ferrari was the best in terms of engine in 2018 and 2019. We have our own after that. pushed the boundaries and kept pushing, so we came up with a new much improved engine this year. “
He uses his last comment as an example. According to Wolff, that fact should mean that other engine suppliers can also take such steps forward. That is why, according to the Austrian, it is special that other engine suppliers want help in catching up. According to him, it indicates that those engine suppliers cannot believe in their own.
“I can’t believe that a car manufacturer, who believes in its own ability to develop an engine and chassis, would want to introduce a mechanism that balances the performance of the engines. Nobody wants to think like that.” one way to be embarrassed in public “, he lashes out at the other motorcycle suppliers.
According to Wolff, the premier class of motorsport must therefore stay far away from strange mechanisms as proposed.
With the cooperation of Dieter Rencken.
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